Tubing and casing elevator.



A. G. HEGGEM.

TUBING AND CASING ELEVATOR. APPLICATION FILED 11017.6, 1909.

986,388, Patented Mar.7, 1911.

"UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ALFRED G. HEGGEM, 0F CORAOPOLIS, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR TO OIL WELL SUPPLY COMPANY, OF PITTSBURG, PENNSYLVANIA, A CORPORATION OF PENNSYLVANIA.

TUBING AND CASING ELEVATOR.

To all whom 'it may concern:

Be it known that I, ALFRED G. Hnecmt, a citizen of the United States, residing at Coraopolis, in the county of Allegheny and State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Tubing and Casing- Elevators; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same;

My invention relates to that class of devices commonly termed tubing andcasing elevators, employed in casing oil and Artesian wells, and has for its object the provision of eflicient means for securely holding the casing while it is being raised or lowered and when sections of easing or tubing are being added to or removed from the string. Heretofore, in this class of-devices the structure has comprised two semi-circular members pivoted or hinged together at one side and secured by a latch at a point opposite the hinge, said members constituting, when closed, a ring which is adapted to encircle the casing or tubing just below the coupling or screw collar thereon. The members which constitute the ring are suspended by means of linksor bails that are so disposed with relation to the hinge and oppositely located latch as to aid the hinge and latch in maintaining the closed position of the ring members when the elevator is in service,

said links or reins being also so connected with the members constituting the ring as to permit of the ready opening of said members when the ring or elevator is to be applied to or removed from the casing. In such a construction of elevator, the weight -of a string of casing, through the medium of the coupling or screw collar on the easing, causes a. disruptive strain on the connections of the ring members, and especially is this the case when there is any slack or lost motion, as in pulling a joint or joints of casing, or when any vibration or swaying of the string of easing occurs and the force is exerted on one side of the ring.

Toovercome these several objections to the present construction of easing elevators,

I have devised aconstruction thereof comprising a plurality of ring sections or members so pivotally connected with a bail that Specification of Letters Patent;

Application filed November 6, 1909.

bodies a secondary There are other, minor, features of in- Serial No. 526,537.

they are relatively movable or may oscillate to and from each other on, an axis lying in the plane of the bail to increase and diminish the internal diameter of the ring formed by said members without breaking the continuity of the ring, thus permitting the elevator to be passed over the coupling or screw collar on the casing, and such a construction embodies the main feature of my invention.

The members constituting the ring of the elevator may be two in number, each providecl with segmental pintles of approximately semicylindrical form, or of such form aswill permit the ring members when ournaled on the bail'to oscillate to and from each other, said ring members being of greater internal diameter below than above the pintles, to thereby efl ect an alter nate increase and decrease in the internal diameter of the ring by the oscillation of said members, and such a construction emfeature of my invention.

vention residing in particular combinations and elemental constructions all as w1ll1rereinafter more fully appear.

In the drawings chosen for thepurposfe 'o'f illustrating my invention, the scope of which will be pointed out in the claims, Figure 1 1s a View in elevation of a casing elevator embodying my invention as applied to the upper end of a section of a v1ew in elevation of the elevator taken at r ght angles to that shown in Fig. 1, a portion of the bail being broken away. Fig. 3 1s a top or plan view of the elevator shown in Fig. 1, the bail being removed. Fig. 4 is a sectional view of the elevator, taken in the plane of the line 4-4 Fig. 1, showing it in position to raise or lower the caslng Fig. 5 is a sectional View similar to Fig. 4, showing the members of the ring in position to pass over the coupling on the tubing or casing. Fig. 6 is a section of portions of the ring members and the latch therefor, taken in the plane of the line 6-6, Fig. 3, and Fig. 7 is a top or plan view of the latch for securing the members of the ring.

Like symbols refer to like parts Wherever they occur.

I will now proceed to describe my invention more fully so that others skilled in the Patented Mar. "7, 1911.

casing. Fig. 2 is I tions 1, 1 of the ring C together.

.nion 3, 3, to

art to which it appertains may apply the same.

In the drawings, A indicates the upper end of a section of tubing or casing and B the coupling or screw collar thereon.

I 0 indicates an elevator for handling casing, and D the bail thereof with which the usual casing hook engages when the tubing or casing is tobe raised or lowered.

The elevator C, which is preferably in the form of a frustum of a hollow cone, may be comprised of two equal members or sect-ions 1, 1 each of which is cut back or formed with divergent, adjacent edges, as

-* at 2, and is provided with trunnions 3, 3,

each of said trunnions being wedge shaped in cross section and being formed as a cvllndrical segment of slightly less extent than a sem1cylinder, the form of the members and their trunnions or pintles being such as to give sufiicient clearance to permit the independent oscillation of the respective sections when the trunnions or pintles are journaled 1n the eyes formed at the lower ends of the bail D.

4, 4 indicate latches for securing the sec- These latches may be of general rectangular shape and bar form (see Fig. 7) having a'pintle bar 4 at one end and a locking bar 4 opposlte thereto.

In order to secure. the latches 4 to the mug sections 1, 1 in hinged connection therewith, said members 1, 1 may be grooved, as. at 5, for the reception of the p ntle bars 4 of the latches. After said pintle bars have been inserted in the grooves 5, the projections 55, 5 are forced down over the pintle bars to hold them in position. The members 1, 1 of the ring may also be grooved, as at 6, to receive the lock mg bar 4 of the latch 4, and, as indicated in Fig. 3 of the drawing, the latches 4, 4 are preferably reversed on opposite sides of the ring, or, in other words, the pintles of the respective latches 4 are on different sections of the ring. 1

The bail of the ehevator is provided with hooks or slotted eyes 7, 7 which receive the trunnions or pintles 3, 3 and which are of a character that will permit the withdrawal and introduction of the pintles 3, 3

of one of said members 1, 1 independentlyof the pintles of the other of said members. For this purpose it is preferred to cut out each of the eyes 7, 7, as at 7, sufiiciently to allow the passage of the pintle'or'trunprovide a block 8 for closing the slot 7 after the pintle 3 has been passed into the eye, and also to provide a transversely disposed bolt 9 for holding the block 8 in position. This bolt 9 not only secures the block 8, but also serves to strengthen the hook or slotted eye 7.

The elemental construction being substantially such as hereinbefore pointed out the parts may be assembled as follows toconstitute the elevator. The latches 4, 4 are secured to the respective sections 1, 1 of the ring C by inserting the pintle bars 4, 4 of the latches in the grooves 5 of the respective members 1, 1 and then forcing down the lips or projections 5 5* to retain the pintle bars in position. The members 1, 1 are then combined with each other and with the bail D by inserting the pintles or trunnions 3, 3 of one member 1 in the eyes 7, 7 of the bail through the slots 7*, 7 and thereafter inserting the pintles 3, 3 of the other member 1 in the eyes 7, 7 of the bail in like manner, after which the blocks 8 are inserted to close the slots 7*, 7 and hold the pintles of the members 1, 1 in the eyes 7, 7 and the members 1, 1 in juxtaposition, after which the bolts 9 are inserted and secured by nuts or otherwise.

It will now be noted that the members 1, 1 constituting the ringniay be'oscillated on their respective pintles so as to alternately rapproach and recede from each other at their upper and lower ends and that this oscillation alternately increases and diminishes the internal diameter of ring 0, so that when the members 1, 1 occupy a certain rel- -ative position, that is to say when the tops of the members lie in different planes, (see Fig. 5) the tubing or casing and its coupling member may pass freely through the ring 0, but can not be withdrawn therefrom when the reverse oscillation of the members 1, 1 (see Fig. 4) has changed their relative position, or brought the tops of the members into the same plane, and diminished the internal diameter of the ring.

When the members 1, 1 of the ring 0 0c cupy the relative position shown in Fig. 5 of the drawing and the coupling B on the end of the casin A has been passed through the ring C, the members 1, 1 are brought into the position shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 4 ofthe drawing, after which thelatches 4,

4 are turned down into the positions shown in Figs. 3 and 6 of the drawings, and the ring 0 is drawn up against the screw collar or coupling B, in which position the elevator carries the weight of the casing and the latches are held. securely in position by the screw collar or coupling B' of the casing low the desired coupling B, the displaced member 1 may be then inserted in the eyes 7 to complete the ring and the blocks 8 and bolts 9 replaced.

Having thus described my invention what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is: i

1. In a tubing and casing elevator, the combination of ring sections, and a bail on which said sections are pivoted, the sections of the ring arranged to oscillate to and from each other on an axis lying in the plane of the bail. V

2. A tubing and easing elevator comprised of a plurality of independent ring sections adapted to oscillate on a bail, and a bail -bination of a bail, and a plurality of membersconstituting a ring, each of said ring members being pivotallyconnected, to said bail and being arranged to oscillate independently of each other to increase. and diminish the internal diameter of the ring formed thereby. r

In a tubing or casing elevator, the combination of a bail, and a plurality of ring members pivotally andindependently connected with the bail said ring members be iug adapted to oscillate to and from each other about an axis passing through their points of attachment to the bail. r

6. In a tubing 01' casing elevator, the combination of a bail, and a plurality of ring members independently pivoted to the bail on a common axls. I i

7. In a tubing or casing elevator, the combination with a bail having pintle eyes, of a plurality of ring members each having pintles for engaging the pintle eyes of the bail, and latches for locking the ring members against relative movement.

8. In a tubing or casing elevator, the combination with a bail having :slotted eyes, of a. plurality of ring members each having --pintles for engaging the bail eyes, and

blocks for closing the slotted eyes of the bail.

9. In a tubing or casing elevator, the combination with a bail having slottedeyes, of a plurality of rmgmembers eaclfhavmg pintlcs for engaging the bail eyes, blocks for closing the slotted bail eyes, and bolts for securing the blocks which close the slotted bail eyes.

10. In a tubing or casing elevator, the combination of a bail having pintle eyes, and a plurality of ring members each having segmental pintles of less extent than a semi-cylinder, said ring members having divergent adjacent edges aflording clearance which permits the relative oscillation of said ring members.

11. A tubing and easing elevator comprised of a plurality of independent ring sections each section having a plurality of journals whereby it is pivoted on a bail, and a bail-on which eachv of said 1ndependent sections is j ournaled, said bail serving to connect the ring sections and maintain the continuity of the ring.

12. A tubing and casing elevator comprised of a plurality of ring sections constituting the frustum of a hollow cone, and a bail on which said sections are provided.

13. A tubing and easing elevator comprised of a plurality of ring members constituting the frustum of a hollow cone, and a bail on which said members are journaled, said bail serving to connect said ring members and maintain the continuity of the ring.

14. In a casing and tubing elevator, the combination with'a bail, of a plurality of pivotally connected members constituting a ring the opening through which is adapted to be enlarged and diminished by the rela tive oscillation of said pivotally connected members, the tops of said pivotally connected members lying in different planeswhen the opening through said-ring is of greatest size.

In testimony whereof I atlix my signature,

in presence of two subscribing witnesses.

, ALFRED G. HEGGEM. Witnesses:

p D. J. BROWN,

W. K. MoKEE. 

